UPDATE: Brakes bled. She's purring. Only did the drivers side because it was the stuck one, but I still have the new caliper for the pass side, so what the hell... MIGHT AS WELL DIVE IN! I know what to expect this time.

If it would please just not be 92 and swamp-ass humid I'd get it done this weekend.

I should add that in true Minnesotan style, I wrapped a bunch of hockey tape around the area of the old soft line that could possibly rub against the frame. I did check all steering angles repeatedly to make sure it wouldn't, but just in case...... hockey tape.

Some photos of the job:


Look at that pretty bastard.

I just remembered that not only do I have a Toyota, but that there is a Toyota dealership minutes from my job. So I went in at lunch today and ordered the four lower hard lines for the two front brakes. $13 each, so a steal at $52 as far as I'm concerned. Looking forward to picking them up and finishing this brake job! I already have two of the rubber lines that are the "meat" of the brake line sandwich on both sides, so I'm gonna just unhook both of them at the inner fender where the tee junction to the ABS pump is. They seemed to have a lot less corrosion.

The wheel bearings are DEFINITELY about to go. They've been groaning at all speeds from both sides all week and every time I drive I've got roadside assistance on speed dial so...... here we go.

Latest update is a VIDEO. Yep.



Also this job finally drew blood. It was SUPER lame though. I put the steering knuckle on that stool and shortly after the video I walked back into the garage and the twisted bailing wire that some asshat used to keep the boot on the upper ball joint scraped a 2 inch gash in my calf. Believe it or not, the first time this car has drawn blood.

They do make a flex line that goes from the frame all the way to the caliper. When I put tundra brakes on my trucks, instead of dealing with that stupid little hardline, I bought those flex lines and it works well. Just a suggestion since hardlines corrode so easily here

I thought about that as an option, but I ended up going to Walser Toyota which is less than a mile from my work, and for $52 I got all 4 accessible hardlines. I'd already bought the hoses from O'R so I figured I'd just make it a complete set. If I have any issues at all during install I'll probably sell the hard lines and go with flex all the way from the tee to the caliper.

My work is a mile from Walser and I use my works account to get parts from them. Small world.

You know, someone at my office drives a very nice silver 3rd Gen. Could it be we actually work at the same place?

Passenger side is off.

Nope! But I do have a silver 99 that I finished up and drive around occasionally. I typically am driving my 01 IJM sport around town. I don't work in an office, I work in retail while I finish up my degree.

So I got up early and took both knuckles to the shop.

They called at 11:30 saying they hadn't gotten either of them to give, and one of them even bent the press lever. I quizzed them to make sure they'd taken the inner clips out and they said yeah, they got them out no problem. So they didn't get them done today. They're not open tomorrow (Sunday) but are soaking them both in penetrating oil over the rest of the weekend and expect victory on Monday.

Ugh.

Also my Ranger overheated today. It's been a bad car day.

What shop did you take them to?

. I went to TGK Automotive in St Paul. I've used them before for shop services (pressing bearings, assembling struts, etc) and they've always been great. They're a small local chain. They're also open Saturday mornings which of course is a great thing for someone like me that works weekdays. I don't doubt for a second that they're doing it right, they're not some fly-by-night shop. NOTHING comes easy with this vehicle so far. OK, one thing. One stab bar link went off easy and back on easy. Out of like, 10 jobs I've already done on it.

In other news, just ordered new inner and outer tie rods and boots for both sides. Managed to find Toyota OEM outers on amazon, for like $50 a side, Prime! That seems like a crazy good deal. The inners are Beck Arnley, which I know isn't the greatest but they should be good enough, and they come with boots, which was the deal-breaker for me. Nobody else I checked even *sells* boots, let alone coming with the end. They were also $50-ish each, Prime. So 225 additional dollars later I'll have completely new steering by the end of the week (plus an alignment of course) - new upper and lower BJs, new wheel bearings, new inner and outer tie rod ends. Total cost of the entire front end rebuild will depend on how much I end up paying the shop (or god forbid having to junkyard some steering knuckles) .... so far around $500 in parts. I am guessing the shop labor to end up being... maybe $200, we'll see.